


Tingles and tears while we're gazing

by 00FFFF



Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: 2 endings:, Christmas, Demon Shenanigans, M/M, Teasing, Tired kissing, Twas the Night Before Christmas, Wholesome, and naughty, minecraft personas ONLY, please don't ship real people, season 6, slight nsfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:22:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21962035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00FFFF/pseuds/00FFFF
Summary: It’s the day before Christmas and Impulse and Tango work on their amazing Teddy Bear Workshop. Tango, naturally, thrives off of scaring, pestering, and annoying poor Impulse.
Relationships: Impulse/Tango
Comments: 5
Kudos: 100





	1. Twinkle brightly

“Alright, almost there.” Impulse says to himself as he treads through the snow in the Christmas District. He hopes Tango hasn’t been waiting for him for too long, that man can become quite impish when impatient.

Impulse just needed to get some more redstone for the project that lies ahead. Building an actual, _working_ , baby-zombie powered _Teddy Bear Workshop_. Impulse smiles at himself as he sees the construction site in the distance. The sun had just started to peek above the horizon. Today was going to be a long, but hopefully fulfilling day.

“Hey Tango!” Impulse says as he places some shulkers full of materials down. “Tango?” Hmm. No response.

“Are you here?” Impulse looks around the place that the two of them managed to build yesterday. The floor where the ‘elves’ would be running around, constructing teddy bears which would end up directly in Santa’s sleigh is already decorated nicely, hosting a multitude of colorful lights, tinsel, and a huge Christmas tree in the back. In the middle of the room, on one of the repair tables, sat one of the prototypes that he and Tango made. A life-size teddy bear. Impulse looks at it, and it appears to look straight back at him. 

Then he shrugs and reaches for his communicator. “That’s weird, I thought Tango said he was already-” 

“BLARGHHHH!!!” The teddy bear suddenly jumps into action, running straight at Impulse.

“OH GOD OH NO!!!” Impulse drops his communicator in shock. When the teddy bear begins to laugh Impulse catches his breath, and puts a hand to his chest. Oh man, it’s beating like _crazy_.

“That didn’t really work, did it?” Tango’s voice sounds. The teddy bear is jumping around happily, cackling. 

“Dude, you scared the _bejeezus_ out of me!” Impulse finally says, eliciting more laughter from the bear. Impulse joins in with a soft chuckle, as well. Tango’s laugh is just too contagious. 

“So good, so good!” He cackles. Impulse sighs deeply.

Once Impulse finally has all the materials ready, he beckons Tango over, who is still possessing the big teddy bear. Impulse looks at him. Tango looks back.

“What? I’m staying in this teddy bear for the rest of the day.”  
  


“Oh man, we’ve got a lot of work to do, Tango. I can’t- I can’t take you seriously like that.”

“What do you mean? I’m Tango the big friendly Bear!” He jumps towards Impulse, arms outstretched, but he backs off quickly. “It’s creepy, man! You’re gonna get redstone all over it, and then who’s gonna make a new one? The elves won’t have a reference to work off of!”

Tango laughs, but then stops. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t want to make a new one from scratch, either.” The bear stops in its tracks, dead silent. Impulse looks at the scene, waiting for something to happen.

Finally, the teddy begins to shake, and then rises from the ground with an eerie red glow. A blinding flash appears and disappears within a second, and there hovers Tango.

He’d seen his demon friend possess many objects before, but he could never get used to the sight of his friend just popping back into existence like this. It showed just how much power the demon really held. Sometimes amazing, and sometimes absolutely terrifying Impulse.

His boyfriend was wearing a big white Christmas sweater and reindeer antlers on his head. _Dang_ , he looks cute. Suddenly, Impulse feels underdressed for the occasion. Having thought they’d be working all day, Impulse didn’t want to get any of his nice clothes all dirty. What a shame, he could have definitely rivaled Tango’s sweater with an ugly one of his own. The big teddy bear drops to the floor, bringing Impulse back to reality.

Tango’s lips were still curled into a big grin, and he wipes at the tears in the corners of his eyes.

“Dude, stop.” Impulse says, not really meaning it. He likes seeing Tango happy, even if it’s at his own expense. He knows how much he hates waking up so early, so it’s a miracle really, that he was in such good spirits.

“Alright, then. Let’s get down to business.”

The two of them had decided on the redstone wiring first, making sure that there were no flaws in the system they’d have to fix once the zombies were in. 

Working in the cramped spaces underground hadn’t been easy, but between the two of them, they figured out the kinks and how to operate the system as smooth as possible in no-time. Tango managed to keep himself from possessing any hoppers or redstone torches. He actually seemed really invested in making this project work, so early in the morning. And while there was very little space down here, he and Tango worked with and around each other in perfect sync. 

Covered in dust, and eyes strained from working underground with minimal lighting, Impulse was glad to be back above ground after who knows how long they were down there. 

“Let’s test everything a couple more times before we bring the workers in, yeah?” 

And it was a good thing Impulse suggested, really. Because every time they started the conveyor belt, something would get stuck, appear to be missing, or the timing was just off.

But after a couple more tweaks everything seemed to be working fine. Finally.

Having spent a little more time than they’d planned on the redstone, it was already starting to near 12 ‘o clock. Just 12 hours left before Christmas. _No lunch break for now,_ Impulse thinks.

The two builders made their way over to Tango’s base to fetch the four little ‘elves’ they’d caught and dressed. Now donning little green jackets and little red pointy hats, and armed with tools to stuff and construct plushies for Santa. It had been a whole ordeal, trying to catch the buggers in the first place. These bad boys are _fast._ And getting them to actually wear their outfits? Let’s just say that the both of them had to chuck quite a few health potions that night.

  
Impulse suggested he would be the bait, which earned him a smirk out of Tango. He opened the door to the holding chamber carefully, but then noticed a big hole in one of the walls. Something small and green zoomed past his eyes, through the hole.

“Oh! I think one just- Is there a way for them to get out?” 

“Um... I hope not.” Tango replies.

Impulse peeks through the hole, and surely, it leads straight to the ground above. _Uh oh._ “I think he just went up th-” Tango’s over-dramatic “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” Cuts him off. 

“We’ve got to get him back, he’s gonna die up there, man!”

“Well, he’s probably already dead.” 

“I’m going after him.” Impulse squeezes himself through the hole before he can hear Tango’s answer, setting foot on bright, green grass. “Alright, where are you?” He sneaks around the trees.

“I swear I saw you run out... You don’t want to get burnt, do you?” 

Tango digs through some gravel next to the hole, following Impulse up the hill. Impulse hears him groan loudly, he too must realize that all the work they’d put into capturing them was all a waste of time in the end.

Impulse is about ready to accept that the little fella burned to death, when he spots a red hat poking through some leaves.

“There he is, there he is! Tango, he’s here!” Impulse yells down excitedly. “He’s safe under a tree. How do we get him back, though?”

In the blink of an eye Tango appears next to him, cracking his knuckles. “I’ve got this.” He says, and his body begins to emit a glowing aura, the same deep color as his eyes.

Impulse shakes his head, but takes a few precautionary steps back, just in case. He looks on as the demon possesses the little elf under the tree. Its body shakes and convulses, seemingly trying to reject the presence of another being inside of it, but finally his eyes glow red, and it stands still.

“Well? How’s that?” It speaks with Tango’s voice. “Let’s get this guy into the workshop!”

Impulse leads the way back down, Tango running behind him. “Run faster, Impulse, faster! This elf is gonna get you! Watch out! Blarghhhhh..!” Tango swipes the shears he’s holding at Impulse’s ankles, spurting the man to pick up the pace.

“Tango- Hey! Stop, please!” He’s hit again, and picks up the pace. Tango is laughing maniacally behind him. “Why don’t just just leave the poor elf alone already?” He yells back.

“Are you kidding me? This is way too much fun!!!” Impulse skids around the corner, the bubble elevator in sight. He’s never ran so fast in his entire life. Impulse jumps in, shooting up to the work floor in no-time. Tango follows swiftly. But as Impulse is trying to catch his breath, the little zombie comes running straight towards him again.

“Don’t you ever get tired?!” Impulse yells as he runs away. There’s no way for him to get out of the room, though. They hadn’t really thought about that.

“Tired?? I thrive off of your fright!” Tango laughs, running as fast as the little zombie-elf’s legs can carry him. The two Hermits end up circling the three workstations in the middle of the room for a good couple rounds. Until Impulse suddenly stops, turning around, and catching the little fella who runs straight into his arms.

“Gotcha! Wait-”

The zombie gives off a by now familiar red aura, floating upwards, out of Impulse’s hands. Both Tango and the zombie drop to the floor mere seconds after.

Tango is smiling, but the zombie has acquired a new target. It locks its dead eyes on the demon who bolts away before Impulse can say anything.

“Impulse! Help! Throw me an ender pearl or something, I don’t have anything on me!” He pants, getting a taste of his own medicine. _Serves that idiot right_ , he thinks, catching his breath over by the Christmas tree. He doesn’t see when Tango runs straight at him, arms outstretched.

“Impulse!!!”

He looks up, but it’s too late.

_CRASH!!!_

Impulse is thrown back into the pine tree, Tango right on top of him, shards of ornaments litter the floor. 

“Impulse! It’s still coming for me!” Tango yells. Impulse rubs his head, there’s not much he can do with the demon on top of him. The tree they’re stuck in and leaning against is starting to topple.

“Tango... Tango get off of me the tree... Tango! The tree!” He yells but the thing has already started to topple. Impulse closes his eyes, and he hears a loud _THUD._ The sound of wooden planks being broken in half, mixed the sound of ornaments shattering and boxes being crushed pierces Impulse’s ears.

When Impulse opens his eyes again, he’s met with Tango’s face dangerously close to his own. They’re laying on the floor, looking at each other. Impulse can feel his face turning bright red. “What a festive color you’re sporting, there, handsome.” Tango gives him a crooked smile.

They lay there for what feels like way too long, staring into each other’s eyes. Then Impulse remembers why they’re laying down on the floor in the first place, and he attempts to get up. “The workshop! Is it-” The two Hermits turn around to look at the damage.

“Well, it looks like that stopped the zombie, at least.” Tango offers.

Impulse sighs deeply. Tango gets off of him, and they assess the damage.

It looks like only one of the repair stations in the middle of the room has been broken. They’re lucky that the tree only hit the middle one. Strings of garland have been ripped off the walls, and there’s only a few ornaments still on the tree that survived the crash. The zombie-elf lays trapped underneath the tree, seemingly unharmed, but rearing to take a bite out of either of the two Hermit’s flesh. 

“That was a close call” Tango laughs, and Impulse can’t help but laugh, too. He’s angry. They’d have to re-decorate everything, making all their efforts up until now seem worthless. But something about the way Tango remains calm and positive... It’s contagious. 

“We better fix this before we get the others in.” Impulse places a few fences down. “Help me trap this zombie so we can get the tree up again.”

They secure the little creature, and with the help from Tango’s handy ability to fly, they hoist the tree up in no time. Impulse sweeps the floor clear of shards while Tango redecorates the upper part of the pine tree. The repair work goes smoother than some of their other actions today.

It’s way past lunchtime when they finish decorating and let the little elf roam free.

“Let’s make sure that never happens again. Okay, Tango?” Impulse looks accusatively at the demon, whose arms seems to be stuck, wrapped in colorful christmas lights. He looks up with those big, red eyes of his. The man can’t act innocent if his life depended on it. “Don’t worry, man. I gotchu, I gotchu.” He grins, wrapping more decorations around his arms.

“How about you be the bait, this time, huh? No more possessing of the zombies!” Was all Impulse needed to say for Tango to rush into the holding chamber of the rest of the elves, aggravating all three of them at the same time, and scrambling his way back to workfloor. As far as Tango’s antics usually go, this went pretty well. It felt good to see all the pieces of the workshop finally fall into place. 

Finally the elves were running around, following the now invisible armor stands which carried bits and scraps of teddy bears, and it really looked like they were constructing the bears piece by piece. A sense of pride washed over Impulse.

Tango stood next to him, and wrapped a christmas-lights-wrapped arm around his shoulder.

“We really did a good job with this one, I think.” He says, and Impulse hums in agreement.

“But there’s still so much to build... “ They both sigh, turning around. Really, the building was only half complete. Sure, with the redstone in place, this should take no time at all. But still. A break wouldn’t be out of place at this time, but Impulse wants to finish it already. It’s almost Christmas, and he doesn’t want to have to take out another day to work on this project. Impulse walks over and rummages through the chests and shulkers for the right materials.

And the two Hermits work until the sun started to set again. After they’d built the foundations of the second part of the building, Impulse offered to take care of the exterior, while Tango was working inside. He wasn’t sure how safe it would be, but he had to put _some_ trust into his boyfriend. Pyromaniac tendencies and all. He had a great eye for detail, he had to admit. As long as he didn’t hear screaming from inside, all was well.

Impulse struggled a bit with making sure the two parts of the building connect seamlessly, copying the decorations from one side to the other. But after a while he got the hang of it, feeling confident that it looked nice and festive. Swapping different colors of wood around to break up the monotony, hanging up more decorations and hoisting giant sugar canes upright to act as pillars. Every so often he stepped back to look at his work from a distance.

The sun was sinking below the horizon as Impulse was working on the last part of the roof. He let out a big yawn, remembering that he hasn’t really had a break since... Since yesterday, actually. He didn’t even hear Tango leave the building, landing beside him on top of the roof. He was sporting a big grin on his face, but it wasn’t a mischievous one. No, this one was... prideful?

“Hey Impulse.” He poked him in his sides. “I’m done with the interior, wanna come check it out?” 

Impulse places the last few tiles, and nods. He honestly can’t wait to see what Tango came up with. He moves to the edge of the roof, ready to jump down- _Wait_ . He’s not wearing his elytra, _crap_. “Um. Help me down? Please?” 

Tango snickers and swiftly scoops Impulse up into his arms, bringing him to the ground safely.

Tango holds the door open for him, and Impulse is blinded with christmas lights and glittery decorations. To the left stood an impressive looking fireplace, stockings hang from the mantle, and a really comfortable-looking couch stands in front of it.

It looks more than inviting, and Impulse lets himself fall down onto it, bouncing up and down. “So, what do you think?” Tango asks, looking hopeful at him.

Impulse drowsily looks around the room. The splashes of color against the wood tones honestly is a sight to behold. He’s outdone himself with this one. “Tango... It looks amazing.” Is all he can bring himself to say, completely lost for words.

Tango hands him a cup of hot cocoa, pressing a soft kiss to Impulse’s nose. “I’m proud of us.”

Impulse nods, blushing ever so slightly. He sees his boyfriend walk towards the fireplace, lighting it up with ease.

The warmth quickly spreads throughout the room, making Impulse feel calm and at home. He’d worked so hard today that he didn’t realize just how fatigued he was until now. Impulse closes his eyes, basking in the comfortable warmth.

He doesn’t realize he’s fallen asleep until something wakes him up.

He looks around confused. It’s dark, and Tango is nowhere to be seen. He’s about to call out for him when he notices he’s tucked in under a warm blanket. There, in his arms, is one of the workshop’s teddy bears. One of the smaller sized ones. 

Its eyes appear to give off a faint red light for a fraction of a second. Impulse smiles and brings the teddy to his chest, cuddling it. The fire is still crackling softly, making falling back asleep that much easier.

“Merry Christmas, Tango.” He whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays to anyone and everyone celebrating! I hope you enjoyed all of Tango’s shenanigans this Christmas :) I recently watched his entire S6 playthrough again, and these two episodes just stuck with me!  
> The next chapter is an alternate ending, which is slightly more NSFW. So, proceed with caution!
> 
> Titles from 'Turn the Lights Off' by Tally Hall


	2. Dance in darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, for the naughty ending. Some NSFW ahead, be warned!

“Um. Help me down? Please?” 

Tango smirks and swiftly scoops Impulse up into his arms, bringing him to the ground safely.

Tango carries Impulse all the way inside, and plops him down onto the big couch in front of the fireplace. Tango hands him a hot cup of cocoa, and then quickly makes work of creating a cozy fire in the fireplace. _Showoff,_ Impulse thinks. _Stupid, hot, demonic fire-magic wielding hot showoff._

Impulse wants to look around to take in all the amazing festive decorations Tango’s worked on all this time, but in between trying to keep his eyes open for longer than a few seconds, he can’t stop staring at the back of his boyfriend. _Stupid ugly christmas sweater. Stupid christmas lights that frame his stupid strong muscles that carried me all the way into this stupidly cozy interior._

Tango turns around, a grin plastered on his face, his posture illuminated from behind by the fireplace.

“Whatcha dozing off for, dude? The day isn’t over yet!” He says.

“Tango- we’ve built this entire workshop in just two days. Non-stop construction, from sunrise to sunset. I’m beat.” Tango approaches the couch from behind.

“Beat, you say? Already?” Impulse can’t see, but he knows that Tango has his eyebrows raised at him. The smirk in his voice is more than evident.

Impulse feels two arms snaking around him from behind. He must have lost the christmas lights somewhere in decorating the interior. 

Tango takes the cup of hot cocoa he’d been clutching to for warmth. “Hey-!” Impulse turns to look at his boyfriend, who downs it all in one sip. “I was going to drink that... Eventually.” Impulse pouts. 

“What are you gonna do about it?” Tango whispers into his ears, the smell of cocoa and brimstone hot on his skin. It sends chills down his spine, the presence of Tango permeates each of Impulse’s senses.

“Please, Tango. I’m so tired, let’s just call it a night. I’m afraid I’m all worked out.” He gives a sheepish smile, knowing that the demon wasn’t going to give up that easily. He’d been begging for Impulse’s attention all day, after all.

“Good thing I’m all worked up, then.” The man in question grins. He drops the empty mug and grabs Impulse by the collar of his shirt, pressing their lips together in a passionate kiss. At least, it’s passionate from Tango’s side. Impulse tries to react, but the combination of Tango overwhelming all his senses, and genuinely being exhausted, leave him a puppet under Tango’s control. He doesn’t seem to mind. Tango, in fact, thrives off of the fact that Impulse can’t seem to do anything.

The demon lifts himself off the couch, taking Impulse with him. Before he can react, his back is being pressed against a wall. Tango pins his arms above him, and through his half-closed eyes, Impulse can see the lust in his boyfriend’s deep, red eyes. “Is this okay?” He asks, and all Impulse can do is nod.

As gentle as a demon who’s been begging for attention all day can be, Tango presses sloppy kisses down Impulse’s neck. Impulse’s knees give underneath him, the only thing keeping him up being Tango’s arms, but he shows no sign of struggle. _Damn, that’s hot. Why is he so stupidly hot?_

Impulse can’t help but yawn, and Tango seizes the opportunity to press their mouths together again. Impulse tries to kiss his boyfriend back, but he’s a sleepy mess underneath his hot touch. “Whatever you want... “ He mutters in between shallow breaths. “Do it. To me.” He can’t form a coherent sentence. Having worked so hard all day, being treated and taken care of like this filled his mind with bliss.

Impulse is a hopeless mess under his boyfriend’s spell. He’s being peppered with sloppy kisses in all the right places. He can feel Tango press his body to his, and his breath escapes him every time Tango moans his name.

“You’ve worked hard enough today, handsome.” Impulse closes his eyes, surrendering himself to Tango’s caring work. It’s funny, really. Tango is free to do whatever he wants to him. And he _knows_ that he’s free to do so. But he _still_ chooses to take care of Impulse as gentle as possible. It melts his heart and sends blood rushing all over Impulse’s body. 

The soft kisses turn into nibbles, bites, and hickeys. Impulse can feel a leg being pressed between his, and Tango begins to move, slowly. The friction sending pleasure to combat the fatigue. He’s in full control, and Impulse wouldn’t have it any other way. 

No clothes get removed that night. At least, that’s what Impulse remembers. His boyfriend teasing him all night long, never arriving anywhere. Every time Impulse whined, Tango would stop what he’s doing with a big smirk. _Demons,_ he thinks. _They thrive off of this kind of attention_. 

Impulse doesn’t remember falling asleep. When he wakes up he finds himself back on the sofa, facing a smoldering fireplace. Impulse tries to look around, but finds himself pinned under a certain demon. His boyfriend is fast asleep, snoring ever so slightly. He radiates a pleasant kind of warmth, sussing Impulse back to sleep with ease.

“Merry Christmas, Tango.” Impulse whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Happy Holidays! I really hope you enjoyed this, I just couldn't leave this kind of ending unwritten, it'd fit so well with the lyrics.
> 
> Titles from 'Turn the Lights Off' by Tally Hall


End file.
